An immensely popular and prodigiously talented singer, Italian mezzo Giulietta Simionato, who died in 2010, was ideal for the role of Santuzza in Mascagni’s verismo masterpiece. This 1961 performance from Tokyo also features tenor Angelo Lo Forese as Turiddu and Attilio d'Orazi as Alfio. (The DVD includes optional subtitles in English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish over embedded Japanese subtitles.)

"Simionato sang for 30 years at La Scala, Milan, first in small parts, then from 1947 onwards in major roles in the operas of Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti, Verdi and many other composers from Mozart and Gluck to Berlioz and Bizet. Her superb coloratura technique appeared effortless, while she was equally gifted in comedy and tragedy…. She sang all over Europe and in North and South America, though La Scala was the home to which she always returned."—The Independent